twixt - Hugo Kastner

HIGHLIGHTS AMONG GAMES t
TIP #59
HUGO KASTNER RECOMMENDS
Stratecic classic à la Alex Randolph
„Red and White“ are the colors reflected in
the light of my lamp in an encounter with
the game of Twixt in its Kosmos edition upon
which this review is based. The colors are
those of the components, pillars and bridges, which are placed by both opponents
with aggression and far-sight in distances
of a Chess Knight’s move into the holes of
a square board. Red and white are also the
colors of the harmonious cover illustration of
the box showing TWIXT in bright colors over
a schematic, brooding, player’s head. The
head is that of Alex Randolph, the ingenious
and versatile game designer Alex Randolph.
The aim of the game can be explained in one
sentence: Build a continuous connection in
your own color from one side of the board to
the opposite side. But the fiendish difficulties
start immediately in the first try to do so. As
the connection cannot cross each other and
PLAYERS
Designer: Alex Randolph
Price: ca. 25,00 Euro
Jahr: 1962 / 1998(Kosmos)
Publisher: 3M Bookshelf Games
TWIXT
Dear Reader! The game „Twixt“ has an incredibly lively history, the game has been published
by five companies within the last fifty years,
most recently in 1998 in a very attractive edition by the traditional company Kosmos. That
it had enough quality to ensure a long live in
the gaming community this creation of Alex
Randolph already showed at the hour of it’s
birth at the cult publishing house of 3M, especially with friends of the logic head-to-head
confrontation. Edi Füllemann has composed
an excellent, well illustrated introduction of 24
pages to the game for the at the moment most
recent Kosmos edition, which makes it possible also for the totally uninitiated to explore
the depths of Twixt to their full combinatory
extent. Stil, in this Randolph classic, that even
made it to the selection for the very first German Game of the Year Award, nothing much
goes without practice and experience. One
more reason among many to find your way
into the Games Museum at Leopoldsdorf to
enjoy dratted, darned, dodgy games of Twixt.
Website: www.spielen.at
FROM THE MUSEUM
www.kosmos.de
the Knight’s move (one step straight ahead,
one step sideways) is hard to visualize over
several moves, dead ends and meandering
are pre-programmed. But are not exactly
those mental quandaries the enticements
that provide the lure of the game? How did
Chess World Champion Emanuel Lasker
express this in his groundbreaking opus
“Brettspiele der Völker (Scherl, 1931)? “… it is
the leap into the unknown dark that attracts
and enchants the mind. As it is not honest
to bid on mathematical certainties it goes
against a versatile mind to repeat for the
1001st time something that has already been
proven, that has already been demonstrated
a thousand times, to incorrectly win the reputation of creative thinking”! In “Twixt” you
will quickly reach your logical boundaries, far
earlier than you will reach the boundaries of
the 24x24 board, despite the fact, that, as
stated in the five-language rules book, four
basic rules and two special rules are sufficient
to play. The rest is creative accomplishment.
The better you get the more clearly you will
comprehend the famous chess motto: The
threat is stronger than its implementation!
Comments to: Hugo.Kastner@spielen.at
Homepage: www.hugo-kastner.at
2
AGE
10+
TIME
30+
˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜+ ˜ ˜ ˜
Strategy/Tactics
Info
Chance
As you can immediately see when looking at
the beautiful Kosmos edition with its 24-pages
booklet and 40 Twixt problems – chockablock
full with strategy tips, example moves and
model games – Twixt is a purely strategic-tactical game for two. All the same, Alex Randolph
has managed to transfer a certain “ ease of
thinking“ onto to board..
Hugos EXPERTTIP
It is adamant that you play several game back
to back, this is the only way to feel your way
into the individual and unusual bridge building in this Randolph classic. Do not forget: The
“cake” rule avoids the opening advantage of the
starting player, that is a deciding fact in so many
strategy games. If you play against a much
weaker player you should give him the advantage to place the first (or even a second) pillar
into the middle of the board (Handicap rule).
Hugos FLASHLIGHT
Twixt is a classic in the art of strategy games. It
was published first in 1962 at 3m, a company
with cult status today, and enjoyed editions at
Avalon Hill, at Schmidt Spiele, at Klee and finally
in 1998 at Kosmos, all in new outfits. This long
success story without doubt is the best proof for
the ingenuity of the German-American optional
Venetian Alex Randolph! Unforgotten!
PREVIEW:
MEDINA
Three-dimensional city construction
on desert sands
IMPRESSUM
Offenlegung nach dem Mediengesetz: Medieninhaber, Eigentümer, Verleger und Hersteller: Verein „Österreichisches Spiele Museum“, vertreten durch Obfrau Dipl.Ing. Dagmar de Cassan, Raasdorferstrasse 28, 2285 Leopoldsdorf im Marchfelde, Telefon 02216-7000, Fax 02216-7000-3,
mail-to: office@spielen.at, Internet: www.spielejournal.at - www.gamesjournal.at - Chefredakteur: Dipl.Ing. Dagmar de Cassan
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Icon explanation
Solo Play
GABIS explanation on page 5
Two Players
Large Groups
Recommended Minimum Age
37